Patent GB-692682-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to a continuous wire or bar stock grinding and/or polishing apparatus
IPC: B24B5/38
Filed: 1951-12-06
Abstract: 692,682. Grinding wire &c. CRUCIBLE STEEL CO. OF AMERICA. Dec. 6, 1951 [Dec. 6, 1950], No. 28621/51. Class 60. A machine for grinding or polishing continuous wire or bar stock comprises a supporting head 47, Fig. 4, mounted at one end of a rotary shaft 33, a pair of grinding wheels 48, 49 mounted on the head on opposite sides of the centre thereof and in face-to-face relation for planetary movement about the stock 25 passing through an axial passage in the shaft and head, and power means on the head for adjusting the position of the wheels along their axes of rotation. As shown in Fig. 1, the shaft 33 is rotatably journaled in bearings 34, 35, and a disc-shaped head 47 is carried at each end of the shaft for the support in diametric-opposed relation of the grinding wheels 48, 49, Fig. 4, together with their driving motors 50, 51; the faces of the two wheels are arranged so as to be almost parallel and grinding is effected by the flat faces 48a, 49a, Fig. 5. A protective housing 43 encloses each grinding head. The driving: motor for each wheel is mounted in bearings in a cylindrical housing 53, Fig. 5, which is slidable axially in an outer housing 52 secured to the head in slightly canted relation by a wedgeshaped formation 58 engaging a corresponding recess in the head. Axial movement of the housing 53, and therefore of the motor and wheel, is effected by an annular gear 96 having screw-threaded engagement with the outer portion of the housing 53 and fixed against axial movement. The gears 96 of the two units on each head are operated simultaneously from a motor 102, Fig. 3, on the head 47, through reduction gear 105, shaft 109, and chain-and-sprocket drive 114; the connection between the shaft 109 and the latter drives is through universal joints 110, 111. Slip-ring structures are mounted on the shaft 33 for supplying current to the motors 50, 51, 102. The shaft 33 is driven from an electric motor acting through a chain 38 and sprocket 39, Fig. 1, on the shaft, and, to facilitate the installation and withdrawal of the chain 38, this shaft may be made in two separable parts bolted together in the region of the sprocket. The stock may be supported at each grinding head by two flat fingers 134, 135, Fig. 15, extending between the wheels and projecting from the head for rotation therewith; these fingers serve also to scrape and clean the stock as they rotate. The wheels in the first head may be arranged to give a rough cut and those in the second a finish grind. Coolant or lubricant fluid is supplied to the stock in the region of the wheels through a nozzle 67, Fig. 4, surrounding the stock and supported by a casing 43a from the main housing 43. The fluid is retained by a vessel 67 of frusto-conical shape which has its base 68 secured to the shaft 33, flanged openings 69a, 70a, embracing the necks of the motor housings, and a flared mouth 67a co-operating with the casing 43a; the used fluid collects in the casing 43a for withdrawal through a conduit 72. A modified nozzle is of frusto-conical form encircling the stock and screw-threaded to a tubular base which is secured to the casing and supports a stock guide having a narrowed neck fitting loosely on the stock. When the machine is used for grinding wire stock, the wire is fed from a drum 24, Fig. 1, by grooved pinch rolls 27, 28 and through a straightening unit 29 before passage to the grinder; after grinding, the wire passes through a control unit 22 from which the motors 50, 102 are controlled, and then to a reeling unit 23. For grinding parallel-sided bars, the pinch rolls are replaced by power-driven rollers, the main shaft 33 is not rotated, and the two heads 47 may be relatively adjusted so that they grind the same or different pairs of opposed surfaces; if the bars are of square cross-section, the two heads may be angularly adjusted relatively to each other so that the grinding wheels are positioned to grind the four sides of the bar in one pass. The motor 102 controlling the axial movements of the grinding wheels may be controlled from the unit 22 or it may be controlled automatically by means continuously measuring the diameter of the wire at the points of abrasion.